Twitter merges misinformation, spam prevention teams

WASHINGTON: Amid the ongoing legal battle against Elon Musk, Twitter is merging its team for fighting misinformation and harmful content with the team that looks after removing spam accounts. As per Tech Crunch, the social media firm will call this new group "Health Products and Services (HPS)."

Twitter confirmed the development and said the company's VP of Product Ella Irwin will lead this team. However, it didn't provide any details about how these teams will work together and how it will impact misinformation and spam on the platform.

"Today's reorganization reflects our continued commitment to prioritize and focus our teams in pursuit of our goals. Stopping bad actors, and creating more transparency around how we support a healthy platform, while also helping promote and encourage diverse thoughts and conversations continues to be foundational to everything we do and how we organize our teams," the company said in a statement to TechCrunch.

This news comes on the heels of the revelation that Zatko filed a whistleblower complaint against his former employer. In it, he said Twitter has "extreme, egregious deficiencies" when it comes to security and that it prioritizes user growth over cleaning up spam.

Shortly after The Washington Post reported on Zatko's complaint, which also raises concerns about national security, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle announced that they're looking into his claims.

In an email to employees, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal defended the company and echoed its spokesperson's statement that Zatko's complaint is a "false narrative that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies."